Music notes: Queen superfans pay homage at Rosemont, NCC
Saving the Queen
The glory days of Queen, the bombastic rock band once led by the late Freddie Mercury, will come alive this weekend during “One Night of Queen,” a lavish tribute to the British band, courtesy of Queen superfans Gary Mullen and the Works.
8 p.m. Friday, March 8, at the Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Road, Rosemont, and 6 p.m. Sunday, March 10, at North Central College's Pfeiffer Hall, 310 E. Benton Ave., Naperville. Tickets start at $30. Go to ticketmaster.com or northcentralcollege.edu/showtix.
Matthews tribute
If your tastes run more toward modern sounds, consider taking a drive to Palatine to see the Tripping Billies, a group that bills itself as “the nation's most successful Dave Matthews tribute band.” Born in Chicago, the band has brought its energetic re-tellings of Dave Matthews' rootsy jams to audiences from coast to coast.
10:30 p.m. Friday, March 8, at Durty Nellie's, 180 N. Smith St., Palatine. Kevin Mileski will also perform. Tickets cost $7. Go to durtynellies.com.
SXSW preview
The South By Southwest music festival and conference is as entrenched and important to the music industry as Sundance is to the film world. More than 1,300 bands will gather in Austin, Texas, for the event, which runs Tuesday, March 12, through Sunday, March, 17. As always, a huge contingent of the bands will hail from Chicago and the suburbs, and fans have a chance this weekend to see a bunch of those bands playing live before they make the trip down south. The annual SXSW Send Off Party will take place at Chicago's intimate Hideout music club, and it will include performances by Judson Claiborne, Scott Lucas & the Married Men (led by Lucas, a suburban native) and the almighty Waco Brothers, who remain one of the best live bands around. This is an all-day event that easily offers the most bang for your rock 'n' roll buck this weekend.
Starts at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 9, at the Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia, Chicago. $10. Go to hideoutchicago.com.